Subtropical Taiwan rarely sees snow even in the dead of winter, so when white fluff fell from the sky in the heat of May, the public was understandably surprised. 

Outside a metro station in Taipei, what appears to be snow is falling from the sky. Several people filmed the white fluff, loudly exclaiming their surprise.

The “snow” is actually the fruiting seed pods of the Kapok tree, famous for its fiery red-orange flowers in April. The pods mature and split in May, and when the wind picks up, the seeds and their cotton-like fibers are blown away to a new location to possibly grow new trees.

The falling fluff is as beautiful as real snow, even though it is a problem to clean up. Some people also say they experience allergy symptoms triggered by the fibers.

Physician Lin Ying-jan (林應然) states that patients report wheezing, nasal discharge, coughing, and severe respiratory difficulty.

Kapok trees, found in every city around Taiwan, are fast-growing and prized for their flowers. However, with public complaints over their seeds causing not only health issues, but also a mess, cities may be facing a dilemma there’s snow way to solve.